Alliance for Rural Electrification starts into the next period with a new board

Board elections at international trade organization with focus on rural electrification

(PresseBox) (Memmingen, 12.03.2014)Tobias Zwirner, Managing Director of Phaesun GmbH and seven new board members were elected to the Board of Management for the next three years at the General Assembly of the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) on 20.02.2014 in Brussels.

ARE is the only trade association worldwide that promotes exclusively activities related to rural electrification with Off-Grid systems based on renewable energies in developing countries. The focus is set on the distribution of solar, wind and hydropower systems in developing countries where no appropriate grid is available to supply villages and communities in rural areas with electricity.

Phaesun has already been a member since ARE was founded in 2008 and Tobias Zwirner is conscious of the importance of ARE: "The major part of solar systems worldwide is installed in Germany while in other regions of the earth, double as much of energy yield could be generated with the same systems. In rural areas in Africa, often more than 80% of households are not connected to the grid. An extension of the grid does often not pay off, so independent Off-Grid PV, wind- and hydropower systems are often the only reasonable option for a reliable power supply.

Marcus Wiemann, secretary general of ARE emphasises: "In Europe, energy systems which feed in a national grid are often the only systems known. At the moment, many enterprises of the trade experience that they have concentrated too much on network supply. The possibilities of solar energy in the Off-Grid sector, however, are enormous. Despite the crisis on the European solar market, many enterprises are reluctant to consider what they could do on other continents. This is why the Alliance for Rural Electrification aims at supporting the integration of decentralised renewable energy supply solutions in developing and newly industrialising countries."
Tobias Zwirner intends to promote small and medium-sized solar systems for individual households, enterprises and public institutions such as schools, or medical centres, especially with a focus on Latin America and Africa during his term of office with ARE.

The Alliance for Rural Electrification was founded in 2008 as a ThinkTank and has meanwhile become established as an internationally accepted trade association with approx. 100 member enterprises. The ARE activities are managed by a regular office in Brussels. The Board of Management which includes 10 members, mirrors the international Renewable Energy Trade and meets in regular intervals to discuss the main subjects of the association work.